UNI TAX COMES BACK

Federal Member for Gilmore Joanna Gash has slammed the government for forcing a new tax on university students saying the new tax is the re-introduction of ‘compulsory student unionism’.

Mrs Gash was commenting on the passing of the Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Student Services and Amenities) Bill 2011 in the senate on Tuesday.

“Under this tax students will be forced to fork out up to $254 each year to pay for student services and activities on university campuses, whether they want them or not.

“When we were in government we got rid of this unfair tax on students, and now here we are again with Labor hitting our young people.

“Most students in Gilmore do not use or cannot use these services; many are mature age students that have no time to use the services” said Mrs Gash.

“Yet they will be forced to pay for them.

“There are also quite a number of students in my electorate who study by correspondence.

“Students who study externally will have no use for a university swimming pool.’ said Mrs Gash.

Mrs Gash said small campuses like the Shoalhaven campus see nothing of these fees, as most of the funds go towards bigger campuses.

“Many students struggle to pay textbooks, now they are going to have to find away to pay for this new tax.

Mrs Gash said that students do not want to pay for this new tax, and should not be forced to fund services that most of them can’t use, aren’t interested in, or which they can access elsewhere.